Former WWE NXT Star Makes AEW Debut

This major prospect competed at this weekend's AEW Dark tapings.

by Andrew Pollard
Harland Parker Boudreaux
WWE

At one time viewed as one of the hottest prospects in the industry, and of course labelled Brock Lesnar 2.0 in some quarters, Parker Boudreaux made his AEW debut this weekend.

Via JJ Williams of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Boudreaux appeared at yesterday's AEW Dark tapings. There, he was introduced as a new recruit for Ariya Daivari's burgeoning Trust Busters stable. The former Harland picked up a decisive victory over Serpentico.

Despite the plentiful hype and those aforementioned Lesnar comparisons, Parker was released by WWE this past April after a spell as the muscle for Joe Gacy. He had been with the promotion for just over a year, having officially signed with Vince McMahon's sports entertainment juggernaut in February 2021.

Prior to signing with WWE, Boudreaux was publicly endorsed by Paul Heyman and Eva Marie, with the 'look' of the young powerhouse being the reason for his unfair comparisons to Lesnar.

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This AEW outing isn't the 24-year-old's first match since departing WWE, for he was a part of MLW's 40-man Battle Riot contest last month. Whether Parker Boudreaux becomes fully #AllElite at some point in the future, that remains to be seen.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.